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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny tv Review

The year is CE 73. Two years after the battle of Jachin Due, tensions still run high between naturals and coordinators. ZAFT has developed several new mobile suits, including several new gundams, and is preparing to unveil them to the world.

However, three of the gundams are hijacked by three of the EAF's Extendeds: Sting Oakley, Auel Neider, and Stellar Loussier. To recover the stolen mobile suits, the new ZAFT battleship Minerva heads out, with Shinn Asuka piloting the new Impulse Gundam. Once again, the world is plunged into a state of war between ZAFT and the EAF. Where will this new war lead? And how will the heroes of the previous war, Athrun Zala and Kira Yamato, react?

Credits: destati

Story & Characters

The story is basically a rip-off of the Zeta Gundam series. If you were looking for a fresh new idea, you won't find one in this series. Not only do they rip-off the plot, but mech designs look similar as well. Everything from the UC makes a cameo in this series... From the Hyaku-Shiki, to the Zeong, to the Big Zam... This series was a pathetic way to gain sales through models.

The main character is no longer Kira, but a kid named Shinn Asuka- A Dark Hero sort of character, and perhaps debatably the most hated main character in any Gundam series. Perhaps it was because of the weak character developments, slow pace,s the fact that Athrun became a useless defected war hero with more screen time than Shinn did in the first 30 episodes, Kira's new Jesus image, and Cagalli's constant crying that weakened this series. At least its predecessor was heading somewhere. This series was a true disappointment.

It's constant reuse of scenes and flashbacks in the most inappropriate places were also a bother. There weren't many flashback episodes, but PLENTY of filler episodes that made no character development whatsoever. Strangely enough, the flashback episodes were placed at the END of the series, instead of the traditional middle of the series.

The main character Shinn, can be compared to Camille of the Zeta Gundam series. The love relationship between Camille and Four was reused in this series between Shinn and Stellar- only lacked substance and contained plenty of plot holes.

Rating: 4

Art

The art to this series was superb. The designs are consistant with the original Gundam seed series and not awkward at all. Of course it is expected with every new series that they naturally become shinier...

The mech designs reused the ones from the UC series, thus containing almost no originality, but at least they were well drawn. The battle sequences were well executed despite having many reused frames. What is most surprising at first is the similarity between the character Shinn and Kira. They made no effort to make them look original from each other. If that was intentional, then it worked great. There is almost no difference to the looks of the old cast. Maybe longer hair and new outfits, but that's about it.

Rating: 8

Sound

The music to this series is excellent. From the background music to the opening and ending songs- Excellent. The only complaint awkward song is the fourth opening theme song to this series. Instead of an expected fast-paced opening, there is a slow, calm and happy song instead. Not necessarily a bad song, just a little out of place and weird. T.M. Revolution fans should be happy to know that he actually has a small part voice acting in this series. His first, and hopefully not his last!

The voice acting was well done and not at all awkward. They matched each character very well. Hard core fans would be happy to know that the Char Aznable's amazing voice returns in this series.

Rating: 9

Presentation

Not a very original series but enjoyable if you had never watched the older Gundam Series. Ignorance is bliss. Fukada made no effort to be original whatsoever. Also, the entire series was obviously his point of view on current political matters between America and the rest of the world. It was obvious there was no intention to entertain hard core Gundam fans with this series, but instead it was focus on the "newer" generation of Gundam fans. That would explain the boyband demi-god pilots and the lack of realism. What was most irritating was the fact that this series did not even connect to Gundam Seed in terms of plot. The only thing the two series had in common were the old cast. There was poor character development for the new cast, and for some reason, there was an increase focus on the old cast for a good fifty percent of the series.

It seems the series' true goal was to increase revenue in its model an poster sales. Once again this series alone spits out more barely enhanced mechs than almost all of the UC series combined. Renaming Zakus because they are given a new paint job or have a new gun attached to it is an example.

This series almost destroys the image of the older cast. Most oif their decisions and personalities change drastically- either becoming indecisive, weaker, or just plain annoying. I would suggest that newer fans to the Gundam series watch the older series as well, so that they are not entirely brainwashed by this series' attempt to be original.

Rating: 6

Final Verdict

6.1667 (average)

Reviewed by xRedPhoenix, Sep 30, 2005

Comments

white-zero Oct 01, 2005

I love the term boyband demi-god pilots LMAO XD

Yep. GSD is more like a marketing strategy for Sunrise and Bandai and I wouldn't be surprise to see another SEED series comes out soon.
PAPTIMUS Oct 01, 2005

u know :i agree with everything u said except the part when u said that u could compare camille to shin or shin to camille to be more exact.let me make this clear :yes u could compare them with each other in their story but not personality.i mean camille is a hero a true hero,he isnt like that arrogant little brat shin..i didnt see even one ep that showed that he is a hero(dark or bright ,black or white)his personality is a total mess! by the way this is one of the most interesting reviews i have ever read,thanks.
xRedPhoenix Oct 01, 2005

I meant that Camille was the image Fukada ripped off from the UC series to create Shinn.. Did a terrible job of course. Camille also did not follow orders and became a smacking-boy in the beginning the the series. The difference is that Camille matured and grew up. Shinn continues to be an arrogant brat with a big head because he was never disciplined. By dark hero, I meant that we don't see the traditional hero that fights for justice type. Througout the series, Shinn could be seen as the antagonist against the old cast, in which the fans adored so much. But yes Shinn is a mess... That's what happens when you rip off too many ideas at the same time. Poor character development.
daos Oct 01, 2005

I didn't watch a lot of Gundam Seed, but the Destiny version sounds "oh so great". I'll take your word for it that the new one is bad, which just shows that newer isn't always better.
Hopefully I'll avoid Gundam Seed Destiny in the future, I've never cared for flashbacks anyway. Some of the time it's just a way for the creators to repeat certain episodes when they get lazy.
CHEESECAkE Oct 01, 2005

Gundam Seed Destiny was alright. i mean i never seen the zeta gundam series. but yea it was a good excuse for them to reuse scenes they were to lazy to draw again. and i've never thought they would use a finished series to start a new one with same characters.
StryderHiryuu Oct 01, 2005

I agree with you, even though I would have rated GSD even lower.
Shinn's an "arrogant" brat, ne? Like you know anything.
He fights because he wants to end all wars, not for his own personal pleasure.
You just don't understand Shinn.

CheeseCake you should really go see Zeta Gundam, it is truly one of the best series of Gundam.
xRedPhoenix Oct 02, 2005

Shinn is quite hyporitical. He saves Stellar claiming it's not her fault she fights, never ONCE tell her that it's BAD to fight and releases her, should have been court marshalled for disobeying orders and retreiving the enemy, but isn't punished because he's spoiled by the Chairman, blames Kira/Freedom for everything, kills the other extendeds because they were the enemy and didn't happen to be his "girlfriend". In conclusion he does not know his place in the military because he is given special treatment throughout the course of the war, thus leading to more confusion and an inconsistant decisions. I mean Camille was pretty bratty and hot-headed at first, but then he simmered down and that's why we all see him as a great hero. No one likes a show-off. I don't blame Shinn- I blame the writers and the director that created him.
SilverGoku Oct 05, 2005

if seen zeta gundam and GS and GSD and i have to say GS and zeta gundam rule and GSD is just a lost cause. There are some similarities to GSD and zeta gundam but i think ppl are assuming ppl as the wrong ppl... like Camille is Shin... i don't think so. In theory shin is supposed to be Camille but Camille is more like Kira from GS. Plus there isn't a character for char in GSD even though ppl will assume Char is Mu La Flaga which he isn't. To me Zeta Gundam is like GS and GSD together but isn't. Also ppl assume that Kira is Amuro Rei cause in the previous series before Gundam Zeta which is supposed to be a GS copy but anyways girl dies called lala i think in the series and in Gundam Seed Fey dies(thank god) which helps in the defeat of Char Aznble and in GS Kira defeats Raw. So there are similarities in the series but they are more different than sama.

Now to get to the GSD series... there are some good scenes (when freedom is included ^_^) but to me the last 2 episodes were like 10 episodes squished into 2. So i think GSD is nothing compared to GS and gundam zeta which has a story line.
xRedPhoenix Oct 06, 2005

Well it's actaully a GOOD thing when characters don't become carbon copies. If Shinn was an exact replica of Camille, then Fukada would have been criticized even more. He tried to make it look like an original idea with the whole Seed sensory whatever thing/ Newtype senses (Rei & Kira) and (Amuro and Char) but failed... Should have made it look more like spider senses. As for the Lala role, I think every series had a mother/brother/cousin/sister/girlfriend/boyfriend/uncle's father's pet rabbit's donky on the opposite side thing, which confuses our main hero. But the dead people floating around to enlighten us at the end thing is sort of old... Frey is not the Lala figure since she was useless on both sides.... And Kira moved on. :\
uychua Oct 06, 2005

i agree that the story is somewhat related to zeta.. but the anime covered it up by its superb detailing on those shiny new gundams hehe.. i dont much care about the character what i really watch are the gundams hehe
royaldarkness Oct 08, 2005

i think that this is a very good review...i agree that the story is very very unoriginal *rolls eyes* and shinn makes the most lamest main character ever -_- he hardly seems like the lead...
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paucarboy003 Oct 16, 2005

hola si hay alguien que pueda entender esto esta bien ... mmm... gumdam seed desini debo decir qe no me gustan mucho las series de robots gigastes que sean del tipo futurista pero viendo que a la gente le gusta parece que me siento obligado ha derle una pequeña oportunindad a esta serie claro esta junto con otra serie que he recibido titulada Full Metal Alchemist de la cual he recibido una buena recomendacion ; regresando a Gundam Seed las recomendacion que escuche es que me dijeron que parecia una novela , para que me dijero eso ... no me paso ni por la cabeza que esa era una primera impresion mal entendida puesto que ahora la gente ya habla hastante de dicha serie... :\

hello if there is somebody can understand this this good... mmm... gumdam seed destini I must say qe I do not like much the series of robots that are of the futurist type but seeing that to people it likes it seems that I feel forced has to along with der a small oportunindad to him to this clear series this another series which I have received titled Full Metal Alchemist from which I have received a good recommendation; returning to Gundam Seed the recommendation that listens it is that they said that parecia a novel to me, so that me dijero that... I do not cross to me nor the mind that that was one first impression badly understood since now people or hastante speech of this series...
strawberrt Oct 18, 2005

You make it sound like GSD is bad. =/ Well I think the original Gundam SEED is better than GSD though. I havent watched any of the older versions of Gundam, and i probally never will. What got be hyped with GSD is the songs. The music is probally what saved GSD a little.
xRedPhoenix Oct 18, 2005

LOL that's the point of my review- GSD IS bad... ~_~ It lacks originality, a good director, and so on... Yes the music is why I kept watching after a while although I didn't think Kira or Cagalli deserved their own image theme song.. If anyone it should have been Athrun or Shinn...
Jadewing Oct 20, 2005

I will note, though, that Heine was not T.M.'s first voicework in seed. He also provided the voice for Miguel, the ill-fated GINN pilot that was Kira's first kill. After that, he narrated the entirety of episode 26 of SEED (which also featured his single, Meteor). This is, of course, why Heine and Miguel are standing together in the third ending of Destiny.

Of course, Heine is T.M.'s in-series avatar. The name 'Heine' is one of T.M.'s old performing names. Also, the two characters in his last name (Nishikawa) translate to "West" and "River"..... which is exactly what "Westen" and "Fluss" mean. If that's not enough, he also has the same hairdo (if a touch more exaggerated) that T.M. had at the time the episodes were being made.

I'll note, though, that Heine isn't the only avatar. Lacus is, of course, Rie Tanaka's (that goes without saying), but the other one I know of is Shiho Hahenfuss, for Nami Tamaki. The problem is that Nami Tamaki also turned down the offer to voice Shiho, which is one possible why she never speaks in the series.
xRedPhoenix Oct 20, 2005

Ah gomen Jadewing.. >.< Thanks for the enlightenment. Wasn't Shiho just in the mangas though?

Yeah I remember TMR did some narrating but forgot where... <_<
Athrun Oct 28, 2005

Your review is very reasonable.

Shinn was indeed a messed up character. Even though, I love Shinn, he's pretty much my favorite character (aside from Heine, who is the BEST I have seen in GSD) he really never have matured. WTF, Athrun hit him at least three times in the whole series. And you'd think with Luna, he would've developed. He was so close too, like when he asked Talia permission to launch. However, after seeing S-Freedom and I-Justice, it just flew out the window. What happened here? S-Freedom is no different than Freedom on Earth, because it has no access to its DRAGOONs. Shinn shouldn't have had THAT much difficulty, unless Kira somehow went Super-Duper-Uber-OMFG ace somehow. And then we have Athrun. How he overcame Shinn is his condition is beyond me. I guess Fukuda didn't have much choice, because I-Justice wasn't going to get enough episodes to raise the sales.

Shinn, if he wasn't going to gain any character developement (and this prolly defined by having him turn into a Kira clone for some people) he could've at least knew what he wanted. I wouldn't mind seeing this.

Athrun: Stop fighting when you're trapped in your past! Revenge gets you nothing!
Shinn: Shut up! You don't know me, you don't know what I feel, you don't know shit! I will take down the S-Freedom, Orb and anyone who gets in my way! I will take down the Freedom to prevent the birth of failed clones like Rey! And I will take down Orb for the hypocrites they are! They WILL pay for the death and lies they have given to my family! And if you persist to get in my way... DIE! [Shinn goes SEED, smacks I-Justice around]
Athrun: ...!
Shinn: Someone like you could not possibly understand. You've betrayed ZAFT! And I will take down the Freedom, along with you!
Athrun: Moron! What will you really achieve killing Kira?! People will still keep making them, and they'll try even harder if Kira is gone!
Shinn: ...!
Athrun: And I can understand! I lost my mother to the Bloody Valentine! You're the moron who cannot understand! [disables Shinn]
Shinn: ...argh...! AHHHHHH!

However on your Presentation part, I thought Athrun was pretty good when he joined ZAFT. His character got bad when he re-joined the Archangel. Why? He makes himself look like he needs to run to Kira whenever he doesn't agree with ZAFT's plans.

My final opinion?

Gundam SEED Destiny is a bad anime. It had potential to be a great SEED series, but it threw it out the window around when the 3rd opening was released. They were too focused on the old cast and Orb. >_>
toru07 Nov 19, 2005

Wow, very decent review.. but if its me, I could have rated it higher. :) I like GS/D so much, maybe because I dig more into the action stuff, its graphics, battle scenes, etc.... (which I think they do a very great job). I didn't really care if its a rip-off... XD

Speaking of rip-offs, don't you think that the Shinn vs Stellar battle (w/ Impulse and Destroyer) is sorta similar to G Gundams final battle between Domon and Rain (God vs Devil). When the "guys" are trying to calm the "gals" in their humongous? gundams. And they fly to each other, except in GSD its only in their imaginations and both of them (Stellar and SHinn) are naked while in GGundam only Rain is naked........

About the music.... its weird that mostly says that the 4th OP "Wings of Words" is not suitable for an opening yet I think its the best opening for the SEED series. I really like the feel of it. The video includes the "traditional pose" (pilot with gundam on background) including Kira, Cagalli (later changed to Neo) and Lacus which on previous OPs they were never part of it - I really like that part. XD

...I don't like that their gundams seems invincible... almost all of the most powerful weapons are equipped to it....... And Akatsuki! It reflect beams....!? I can't even imagine how powerful the gundams would be if there will be a third series. -_-'

And about Shiho..... she's my fave gal, I don't know why. Maybe because she seems cool and strong unlike any GS girls. Im so looking forward to her when I first saw her in the first ED. She really seems to have a some role(basing on ED1 ;)) but I wonder why she turned out as an "extra". I've waited up to ep50 still there is no Shiho. Such a dissapointment for me *lol*

Anyways, Gundam SEED Destiny ROCKS!
jefemaestro89 Nov 21, 2005

is more better good about the gundam wing
and have a good story and animation
raxis Dec 28, 2005

gs >>>>>>> gsd
chikoiyan Restricted Member Mar 10, 2006

i agree with you too....^&^
gundam seed destiny is very good...
tanakhon21 Mar 06, 2008

I also agree with most of your detailed review
Sanisa Sep 21, 2009

Thanks for the review!

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